The objective of the present invention is to provide a bullet-proof portable shield for use by law enforcement agents and the like which is lightweight and capable of resisting penetration by multiple impacts by most hand gun bullets without causing ricochets or flying fragments. When the shield is constructed so that it possesses a frontal layer of ceramic armor, it can resist high powered ammunition rounds from rifles.
A further object of the invention is to provide a bullet-proof shield which is shaped and sized to protect substantially the entire body of a user when the user is in a crouching position.
Another object of the invention is to provide a shield which can be adjustably suspended from a shoulder of a user and which possesses a hand grip bar acting in concert with a shoulder suspension strap, whereby the user can quickly shift the shield from side-to-side on the body so that the shield will frontally face the path of fire.
Another object of the invention is to provide a bullet-proof shield which enables visual surveillance over a wide area while the shield is protecting the user from gun fire coming from any direction.
An important object of the invention is to provide a bullet-proof shield of the mentioned character having means to protect the body of a user from "blunt trauma" caused by the impacting of bullets on the shield which do not penetrate the shield.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a shield of the character mentioned which is constructed from state of the art materials, rendering the manufacturing of the shield economical and practical.
Another object of the invention is to provide a bullet-proof shield having a minimum number of rivets or other fasteners in the frontal area of the shield where they could become lethal projectiles if struck directly by a bullet.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art during the course of the following detailed description.